Credit: DCFEMS

An institution of higher learning was the scene of suspended elevation today.

D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services safely rescued two men stuck in a cherry-picker for more than three hours on the campus of George Washington University, where they’d been working on a building on the 2100 block of I Street NW. Vito Maggiolo, a spokesperson for FEMS, says the agency received a call around 12:20 p.m. after the lift malfunctioned. The men were about four stories high, he adds, but not in danger; FEMS used another cherry-picker to bring them down.

“These guys looked like they were seasoned veterans of the construction industry,” Maggiolo says. “The reason the whole process took so long was [because] safety was our prime consideration.” Both men were released without any injuries.

“They just kind of cooled their heels until we got them down.”